Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk, Russia:

S. V. Saykova, Professor at the Department of Physical and Inorganic Chemistry
D. I. Saykova, Undergraduate Student

Institute of Chemistry and Chemical Technology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences — a branch office of the Krasnoyarsk Science Centre of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Krasnoyarsk, Russia:

M. V. Panteleeva, Research Fellow, e-mail: vp414@mail.ru

This paper examines the new process of cation-exchange leaching applicable to acid autoclaving solutions of the oxidized nickel ores (ONOs) from the Buruktal deposit. The pulp resultant from neutralization (using CaO, CaCO₃, Na₂CO₃) of pressure leaching solutions would be brought into contact with the ion-exchange resins KU-2 and KB-4, which in this case serve as both reagents and metal ion absorbents. The authors investigated how the process duration, the type of neutralizing agent, the type of ionite, the type of counter-ion and the amount of cationite influenced the selective leaching of nickel from the pulp. The optimum process conditions have been identified. It was established that when using cationites in the form of salts iron and aluminium remain in the deposit and fail to transfer in the ionite: the nickel-to-iron ratio increases from 1:20 in the initial solution to (2–3):1 in eluates. It was found that KB-4 has a higher nickel capacity than KU-2. At the same time the former is noticeably selective to calcium ions, that is why Na₂CO₃ would be a better neutralizing agent for the pressure leaching solutions obtained from the Buruktal ONOs. Cation-exchange leaching of pulps obtained through the effect of sodium carbonate, which relies on the use of the KB-4 cationite in the Na form, helps achieve a 98–99% recovery of nickel. The solutions resultant from sorbent elution contain almost no aluminium, and the concentration of iron in them is much lower than in the initial autoclave solution (the nickel-from-iron separation factor calculated by the authors is T^Ni_Fe = 75). Magnesium will be the main impurity metal (the nickel-from-magnesium separation factor reached is T^Ni_Mg = 33). However, magnesium can be separated during the nickel deposition stage.

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